CATCHING ON

“Oh, shoot,” Billy Miller said.

A voice in the background announced a touchdown and Miller, a rookie receiver-tight end with the Denver Broncos, was bummed.

“I wasn’t paying attention,” Miller said.

Fortunately for Miller, he wasn’t at Mile High Stadium or any other NFL stadium.

He was at home, talking on the phone while playing a video game with teammate Andre Cooper, and he got burned.

Cooper, a receiver from Jacksonville, Fla., by way of Florida State, had the upper hand with the Jaguars.

And Miller?

“I’m the Broncos, of course,” he said.

“Are you one of the players in the video game?” Miller was asked.

“Not yet, but I hope to be in it next year,” Miller said.

He might just be.

Miller, a former all-everything player at Westlake High and among USC’s all-time top receivers, made his pro debut in Denver’s 24-23 loss at New England on Sunday.

It was far from flashy--he had one catch for 11 yards--but it was memorable for Miller.

“I was struggling to stay relaxed and not think about it too much,” Miller said. “I had a couple of penalties in the game and I think it was because I was too excited.

“Everything would have been a whole lot better if we had won. The biggest thing on my mind on the flight home was the loss.”

Miller, 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds, played tight end against New England, a position he played sparingly before.

The Broncos have only two healthy tight ends, so Coach Mike Shanahan signed Miller from Denver’s practice squad on Oct. 19.

Denver drafted Miller as a receiver in the seventh round in April. Though big for a wide receiver, Miller is considered small for a tight end.

“I’m not really worried about the weight,” Shanahan said. “It’s really what you do with the weight. I asked Byron [Chamberlain] to get up to 240 pounds and he went to 265, so I’m very careful about asking a tight end to gain too much weight.”

Miller, 22, is open to change.

“Wherever Coach Shanahan says Billy goes, that’s where I go,” Miller said. “I don’t care where they put me. I just want to be in the game.

“They can put me back on the practice squad tomorrow. There’s nothing written in blood.”

There was plenty written about Miller, generally in ink, during his stints at Westlake and USC.

He ranks fifth in USC’s career list with 125 receptions and 11th with 1,602 yards, and he had a season-high 56 catches for 649 yards in 1997.

Although the starting split end in his last two seasons with the Trojans, Miller played tight end a few times, mainly for tactical reasons.

“We were just trying to get one-on-one matchups with linebackers and safeties,” Miller said.

Any matchup Miller came across at Westlake usually worked in his favor.

In his senior season in 1994, he caught 69 passes for 1,087 yards and 14 touchdowns, and was selected an All-American and the Times’ Ventura County player of the year.

Miller left Westlake with 187 receptions for 3,017 yards and 34 touchdowns, and with a lot of people in his corner.

“He was so charismatic,” said Coach Jim Benkert of Westlake. “Everyone really, really enjoyed his company. The ladies here in the office had his picture right by their desks.

“We’re putting a group together and we’re going down to San Diego on Nov. 7 to watch him play.”

Benkert, who stays in touch with Miller, believes the Broncos landed quite a talent.

“They can have a versatile player,” Benkert said. “He can go out for a pass, he can be a motion guy that blocks, he can run down on special teams.

“In the pro game, where you have a relatively few players on the roster and there are so many injuries, [Miller’s] value has increased.”

Maybe even more so with the Broncos, who are limping through a miserable season after consecutive Super Bowl titles. Denver seems destined for the basement in the AFC West and young players like Miller might get more playing time in preparation for next year.

“If they want me to punt, I’ll be happy to do that,” Miller quipped.

Which might make him the most versatile player next year in the NFL . . . and in the video game.